In Reply to: Reduce gain ARC SP3 preamp? posted by fredtr on September 23, 2009 at 14:23:48:
fredtr,
This need to lower gain seems to be extremely common, especially as CD players seem to have been endowed with enough output to drive power amplifiers without a preamp. When using the Cambridge Audio 640 CD player, especially with the 93dB Infinity Primus 360 speakers I was using in the office, the gain control on a 1985 Audio Research SP8 and a 1996 ARC LS3 line stage was never past 7:30-8:00. I tried Rothwell attenuators placed on preamp end of the interconnects, but I sensed a slight veiling of the sound and in the end I thought the sound was preferable without the attenuation and at the low preamp gain setting. I didn't pursue lower gain further as the 640C was switched to the ARC SP10/D115 (1987) system- and the SP10 has has a low and hi gain switch, I think selecting between 6 and 12dB gain in the line stage.
Some of those wishing to reduce gain on preamps have discussed placing resistors inline on one or more of a preamp's inputs, thus effectively lowering the V's of an enthusiastic source. You may try a search on AMPS/PRE forum on this topic.
The need to lower gain is not only when using modern digital sources either. A 1965 McIntosh MR67 tube tuner thoughtfully has it's own output gain control, but a 1989 Revox B160 solid state tuner does not, so I'd considered lowering the TUNER input gain as well as the input used for CD.
Cheers,
Bambi B
[ARC: SP8, SP10, LS3, D115, D130, McIntosh: MX110, MR67, MR77, MC240 ]
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Follow Ups
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